McNair volleyball snaps losing streak with victory over Lincoln

Responding to a decision made by coach John Diaz last week after a loss, the McNair boys volleyball team came out yesterday and surged to a 25-15, 25-12 home victory over Lincoln.

The win for the Cougars (9-5) snapped a two-match losing streak that began with a nail-biting loss to Harrison on April 24, and continued with a loss to Ferris the next day.

“We had a lot of unforced errors against Ferris, so I decided to take my guys out and I actually played the JV in the second game,” said Diaz.

“I wanted to teach the team a lesson and show them that we need to step it up at this point in the season. After the way we played today, I think it’s clear that the message was strong enough.”

McNair was able to separate from Lincoln (4-11) early on as it scored nine consecutive points in the first set to take a 10-2 lead.

Setter Miguel Lladas paced the Cougars during that span, picking up four aces and eight service points.

“I don’t usually serve like that, but I had confidence today and my team kept me going,” said Lladas, who also had a match-high 16 assists. “This is a great team and we play well when we play with confidence. We just need to make sure we keep playing that way as we move forward into the postseason.”

The junior’s play was just one of the benefits Diaz hopes to see emerge from the benching of his starters against Ferris.

“Miguel is a really nice setter, but he’s been off the last few games,” said Diaz. “It was nice to see him come out today and help us get off to a strong start.”

With a week left before the seeding for the Hudson County Tournament is announced on May 8, Mina Ghebrial did his best to get the Cougars back on track, piling up 11 kills, three service points, two aces, two blocks and two digs. The senior notched five kills in the Cougars’ 25-12 victory in the second set.

McNair also received strong outings from senior Jonathan Pangilinan (four kills, four service points, three assists) and junior Vrajkumar Patel (seven kills, four aces) in the win. Lincoln was led in the loss by sophomore Frank Darby, who had five kills.

“We have a lot of star players and everyone has the talent,” said Ghebrial. “When we have positive vibes and things are clicking, we can do amazing things.

“We’re trying to get that momentum up now, especially with the playoffs coming, because we need to be on a positive note when we head into those important games.”